In the Morning
by Bella1951
Summary: Cygnus thought back to that little smile that had been on Bella's face when he had checked on her. She wouldn't... The sequel to Snip.


**A/N: To everybody who reviewed my last story, thank you, thank you thank you! This is the sequel to **_**Snip**_**. It came about because my younger sister requested to hear about Cissy's reaction. So, here it is. I hope you enjoy it. And you guys know that I'm not J.K. Rowling, right? **

In the Morning

Cygnus and Druella Black always slept in on Sundays. As they were not due at Cygnus's parents' house for Sunday brunch till eleven, there was no sense of urgency in the house. The girls knew that they weren't to leave their rooms until nine o' clock on Sundays, though Bellatrix and Andromeda occasionally challenged this rule. Narcissa, of course, never did.

But on this Sunday, Cygnus and Druella were woken at seven thirty by a blood curdling scream.

"Bellatrix," Cygnus groaned, and shuffled to the door. Druella didn't even bother to remove her makeup mask.

The corridor was completely silent as Cygnus made his way to Bellatrix's room. He opened the door and stepped in, smiling at the sight of the nightlight which Bella pretended she didn't use.

Bellatrix was curled up under the covers. For once, she seemed completely serene. Her breathing was deep and slow. She must have been having a good dream, for there was a small smile on her face. Cygnus was surprised. If Bellatrix was sound asleep, then who had screamed? He shrugged, and made his way to Andromeda's bedroom.

Seven-year-old Anna was sitting bolt upright in bed, brown eyes wide. As soon as Cygnus came into the room, she ran to him and clamped onto his leg.

"Daddy!" she hissed urgently. "There was a scary noise! Somebody screamed!" She buried her face in his trouser leg.

"I know, Anna," Cygnus said, attempting to remove her hands from their death grip around his leg. "I'm trying to find out what it was."

"It was a werewolf," Anna said solemnly. "From _Hairy Snout, Human Heart_." Cygnus rolled his eyes. He should never have let Alphard read that memoir of a werewolf to Bellatrix and Andromeda. It had caused Bella to go through a phase where she had tried to bite people that tried to discipline her and had given Anna nightmares.

"I promise that it wasn't a werewolf," Cygnus said firmly. "Now you stay here and -"

_"No!"_ shrieked Andromeda, clinging to him even tighter. "I want to go with you!" As he was losing feeling in his leg, Cygnus relented, and they set off down the hall.

The door to Narcissa's room was slightly ajar, so Cygnus and Andromeda quickly slipped in.

And stopped dead.

Narcissa Black was sitting front of her mirror with tears running down her face. The five-year-old kept running a hand through her hair and then whimpering.

Somebody – and Cygnus had a pretty good idea of who – had cut Narcissa's hair off. There were places where it fell almost to her shoulders, and places where it went down to her chest and places where she was almost bald.

"Go get your mother," he told Anna, who was standing stalk still with her mouth hanging open. "Now!" Giggling, Andromeda ran out of the room.

"Cissy?" Cygnus said gently, walking towards his youngest. Narcissa collapsed into his arms and started to howl.

"My h-hair!" she wailed hysterically. "Somebody c-cut my hair!" Over her head, Cygnus examined the scene of the crime. Blonde tufts littered the floor next to Narcissa's bed and Cygnus could just make out something shiny sticking out from under Narcissa's mattress.

"What are those?" he asked. Cissy didn't answer. Instead she cried even harder. Cygnus carried her over to the bed and pulled whatever it was from under the mattress.

Scissors. They were Druella's brand new embroidery scissors. Scissors that had gone missing last night. Scissors which Bellatrix had been admiring...

Cygnus thought back to that little smile that had been on Bella's face when he had checked on her.

She wouldn't.

Cygnus thought for a second before realising that Bellatrix most certainly _would_. However, she wouldn't do something like this if she hadn't been provoked, would she? He turned to Narcissa.

"Cissy, did you do anything yesterday to make Bella angry with you?" Cissy sobbed and nodded.

"What did you do?"

"You'll be angry." Cygnus couldn't imagine Cissy doing anything particularly bad, so he said:

"I won't be angry." Out of the corner of his eye, Cygnus saw Druella come in and gasp at the sight of Cissy's hair. Or lack of hair.

"I – I broke..." Cissy sniffled, than finished. "I broke Mummy's plate."

"But you told me that Bella did that!" Druella said, shocked.

"She d-didn't," Cissy said quietly. "She tried to catch it."

"Do you mean to say that you lied about your sister breaking that plate?" Cissy dissolved into renewed sobs.

There was a snicker from the doorway. Cygnus and Druella turned around to see Bellatrix standing there in her nightdress, a radiant smile on her face.

"Oh my, Cissy," she said, barely keeping her laughter from exploding out of her. "Aren't you a sight?"

"Bellatrix," Cygnus said coldly. "I'd like to a have a little talk with you." The smile on Bella's face dimmed somewhat, but she nonchalantly followed her father to his study.

"So," Cygnus said once Bellatrix was sitting on a heavy oak chair. "You cut your sister's hair." It wasn't a question and Bellatrix didn't take it as such.

"How did you...?"

"Find out?" Cygnus finished. He pulled the embroidery scissors from his pocket. "Do these look familiar?"

Bellatrix's face paled. "Yes, sir."

"Not that I blame you for doing it," Cygnus said quietly. "Narcissa told me that she got you into trouble." Bella brightened considerably.

Noticing this, Cygnus continued more sternly. "However, you shouldn't have cut her hair off. She's very upset about it." Bella smirked. It was perfectly clear that Bella wasn't even slightly ashamed of herself.

"As it was in retaliation, I'm going to go a bit easier on you than I would have otherwise. You will be painting the front porch, scrubbing the kitchen floor and helping the house elves with any other jobs that they can come with for you." Bella cringed.

"You may go." As Bellatrix stomped out, Cygnus grinned, and opened his safe. He carefully placed the scissors inside and locked the door.

After all, Narcissa might want revenge too...

**So, I hope that you enjoyed it and please review. I love reading your comments!**


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